Disability, Perceptions of Climate Change Impacts, and Inclusive Climate Action Priorities in Abia State Nigeria

Persons with disabilities are disproportionately and differentially impacted by climate change, particularly in low-income settings. Our novel study reports findings from a survey of 104 Nigerians with disabilities and focus groups; examines the climate change impacts perceived by persons with disabilities; enumerates the barriers to climate responses they experience; and identifies disability-inclusive key climate action priorities and climate solutions in Abia State, Nigeria. Our findings indicate that the dominant climate impacts perceived by respondents with disabilities were poverty, loss of agricultural productivity and livelihood, and effects on wellbeing. Climate response measures were predominantly inaccessible to participants with disabilities facing structural barriers including stigma and discrimination, a lack of meaningful inclusion in decision-making, and a scarcity of disability-inclusive climate resources. Key climate action priorities identified by respondents included advancing understanding of the disparate impact of climate change on persons with disabilities, promoting inclusive disaster risk reduction, centering and prioritizing disability equity within climate action, and enabling inclusive sustainable livelihoods. Experiential insights at the micro-level from persons with disabilities are vital to formulating climate-related policy and climate decision-making. We recommend innovative cross-cutting policies and interventions to repair structural disability discrimination and promote urgent inclusive climate action that benefits all of society.